Virginia CD-11

Oct 23, 2008

One of the most interesting congressional campaigns in Virginia in several years is in Northern Virginia's 11th congressional district. Democrat Gerry Connolly and Republican Keith Fimian are waging a competitive race which, according to the pundits, was not supposed to happen.
The seat currently is held by retiring U.S. Representative Tom Davis, a so-called "moderate" Republican. Because of Northern Virginia's changing political climate, this was supposed to be a slam dunk for the ultra-liberal Connolly, a career Washington bureaucrat turned Fairfax career politician. The conservative Fimian, on the other hand, has only spent his career as a successful CPA for the respected international firm KPMG before starting his own business out of his garage — U.S. Inspect — which has grown into the largest provider of residential and commercial property inspection services in America.

There's one problem with the campaign, however. While Mr. Fimian is out door-to-door, at festivals, addressing groups and campaigning hard, Mr. Connolly is nowhere to be seen — except on television "approving" his character-assassin advertisements that even The Washington Post says are false (see here). There's no wonder why he's hiding behind such unscrupulous ads. You see, Mr. Connolly has for some time now been the chairman of Fairfax County's board of supervisors. He is presiding over a whopping $430 million budget deficit. That's a $430 million deficit for a single county — big money even by Tim Kaine standards. What truly is incredible about the deficit, however — in the literal sense of the word — is that the deficit came after Mr. Connolly raised property tax rates on top of increased house assessments! (By the way, let this budget debacle be a microcosmic warning to those who also think raising taxes will balance the federal budget.) Now, the county is in trouble because of declining home values, despite the fact that it is ranked as one of the five most prosperous counties in the nation. (Why does a wealthy county need to spend so much on government?)

Is there no end to the liberal lust for more and more of the hard-earned money from hard-working, play-by-the-rules, Virginia families, especially in economic times like these? This is why, despite the slanderous attack ads by Connolly, the race is in a statistical dead heat — also despite the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee making it one of its highest profile target races. While millions of dollars are spent trying to ruin a good man's reputation, for doing nothing more than working in the real world and creating hundreds of jobs, the voters know the real story. See this news report by local station WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate: